The installation of the new king, or Kabaka, Ronald Mutebi II in 1993 took place on Buddo hill, twelve miles from Uganda’s capital, Kampala.The king wore the four robes of office – a leopard skin, a calfskin and two bark cloths.
An important monument, the Kasubi Shrine holds the royal tombs of four Baganda kings. The shrine is the largest grass hut in Uganda and one of the finest examples of traditional architecture. In 2001, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Royal Kasubi Shrine occupies the site of the palace of King Mutesa I in central
Uganda. When the King died in 1884 the
palace became a mausoleum, and his three successors were buried there.
The interior of the shrine is divided by a barkcloth curtain, known as “akabira”or forest, where the spirit of the king resides. The front half of the shrine features portraits of the last four kings before which a dividing line of spears separates the worlds of the living and the dead.
The installation of the new King Mutebi II in 1993 took place on Buddo Hill, the site of the ancestral throne, an old gnarled tree root covered with bark cloths and skins.
An elder chief presented the king with two
spears and a shield saying “Go and conquer your enemies.” Holding the spears and shield like a warrior, the king vowed to defend Buganda to the death.
At the coronation, members of the Baganda Buffalo Clan flanked the aisle lined with bark cloth leading to the throne. For the Baganda, the king is seen as the master of all men and the husband of all women.
The king is carried by men from the Buffalo Clan, his traditional bearers, and shown to his people. To the cheering of some 20,000 Baganda, who cried out “Wangaala Kabaka” (Long Live the King), the king greeted his subjects to the pounding of giant drums and the shrill ululations of women.
The clansman at center, cloaked in a leopard skin, is one of the traditional bearers of the King. Each clansman wears a length of bark cloth tied over his right shoulder. In Buganda, bark cloths are worn at traditional ceremonies and each symbolizes land ownership.
A Bagandan woman attending the coronation wears a traditional wrapper called ‘basuti’, and proudly displays across her chest a bark cloth banner announcing her homeland. Because Baganda kingship is matrilineal, any powerful woman identifies with the throne because she may give birth to a king.
During the ceremony the Kabaka was
crowned by the Protestant Bishop who placed on the king’s head an elaborate golden crown made in Saudi Arabia. Following this, the King was blessed by leaders of many faiths.
Behind the King throughout all ceremonies stood the Lubuga, his clan sister, who symbolizes his Queen-Wife and comes from his own Monkey Clan. If the king is not married at the time of the coronation, the Lubunga must live in the palace for a time to show his subjects that he will always welcome them because he has a wife who will never leave him.
